- Gordon Dumoulin
From global connectivity hub to outpost peninsula ?
๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฃ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ข ?
While Europe and the US are busy with militarization budgets and geopolitics of separation, the first cargo train on the ๐ก๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฟ (๐๐ก๐ฆ๐ง๐) arrived last week at the border of Iran (departed from Moscow) for its last stretch to the Iranian seaport Bandar Abbas where the cargo will be shipped to Mumbai.
The new railroad route from St. Petersburg (actually from Murmansk at the Arctic Ocean connecting the Arctic sea route to Shanghai) all the way to Iranโs seaport is revolutionary for trade and connectivity developments in Central Asia from the Arctic to the Arabian Sea.
Last weekโs first train still took a temporary route east from the Caspian sea (through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) but the route will soon be more straight and direct going through Azerbaijan at the west side of the Caspian sea when the last 130 km Rasht-Astara has been completed.
At the same time Iran is completing the construction of a new seaport Chabahar dedicated as sea freight gateway for the INSTC connecting Central Asia and Russia with India and South East Asia.
See this greatly designed map by Jug Ceroviฤ how new sea and land routes are being developed (or already operating) connecting the vast Central Asian, South East Asian, Russian, Indian and Chinese lands along with deepening multilateral economic and trade collaborations in various ambitious agreements.
Routes for people, goods and energy; high speed trains, cargo railway and roads, pipelines and cables. A game changer for trade, development and connectivity between nations and people locked from each other for decades to a few centuries. Though looking at history, this map reflects the reality for an overwhelming portion of known human history with Chinaโs and Indiaโs economies being by far world's largest, thriving trade and people-to-people connectivity among others with Central Asia and the Middle East.
๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฃ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ข ?
The world is rapidly changingโฆ ๐บ๐๐น๐๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ with respect to diversity is the road forward for a peaceful and responsible future; for people-to-people, trade, environment and equality. Foreign policies of ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป based on ideologies and militarism should and will have no place anymore.
This map will definitely expand to new, other regions embracing the multilateral inclusive future in diversity...
#beltandroadinitiative #bri #asia #russia #india #asean #connectivity
Sources
https://www.inat.fr/map/belt-and-road-initiative-map/